After three days of challenging competition, six UBC students in the Bachelor of Management program have won high praise from competition partner Totalamber. Over 48 hours, working in 34 teams, every third-year Management student tackled business questions at the heart of Totalamber’s future during the fourth annual Live Case Challenge, sponsored by Argus Properties Ltd.

Students demonstrated their know-how, and as Totalamber founder and CEO Alan O’Neill suggested at the competition launch, they found plenty of opportunity to showcase their skills. Working against a real-life problem and a firm deadline, students showed their passion while demonstrating their ability to advance Totalamber’s business vision. O’Neill backed up his advice with his personal moto “Think—Manage—Do.”

Live Case Challenge course instructor Norine Webster says the event is an opportunity for students to apply their classroom knowledge to a ‘live’ problem facing a local organization.

“Teamwork brings a new perspective to the underlying situation, and this often results in a number of innovative ideas and approaches,” says Webster. “However, students are also expected to support their ideas with research and solid reasoning. Much consideration must be given to how their proposed ideas could be implemented by Totalamber.”

Totalamber provides support and consulting services using enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems, which enable businesses to manage multiple streams of information. Totalamber has offices in the United Kingdom, Kelowna, and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Competing teams investigated several aspects of Totalamber’s strategy for growth as a ‘business to business’ technology firm. Students on the winning team are: Douglas Canning, Regina Garcia Gonzalez, David Kuhn, Aneeq Siddiqui, Siqi Tan, and Davis Yates.

“We’re delighted to welcome Totalamber to campus as a partner of the Live Case Challenge,” says Sugden. “Our students are showing that they’re ready for anything as they work to solve real problems needing solutions for globally-minded, regionally-active firms.”

Background

The Live Case Challenge is held on campus each spring. At the end of the event, the business partner — this year Totalamber — has access to student presentations and is welcome to use the ideas to implement future strategies.

Live Case Challenge sponsor Argus Properties is a local real estate development company providing construction, leasing, and property management service to the Okanagan. In 2014, CEO Ted Callaghan pledged $75,000 to UBC Okanagan in support of the Argus cup. Callahan’s gift offsets event costs and awards the top teams with a prize; $5,000 for the winning team, and $1,500 for the two runner-up teams.